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"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." (Mark Twain)

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Battle Ye Not With Monsters, Lest Ye Become a Monster

I note with great sadness that Margaret Hassan, the Irish-Iraqi humanitarian who courageously worked to better the lives of Iraq's poor and displaced for many years, who managed to survive the horrors of Saddam Hussein's regime, who placed the welfare of women and children in her adopted home ahead of her own welfare, only to be taken captive by Iraqi guerillas, has apparently been murdered by a single gunshot to the head:

Tonight Mrs Hassan's husband Tahseen said: "I have been told that there is a video of Margaret which appears to show her murder.

“The video may be genuine but I do not know.

“I beg those people who took Margaret to tell me what they have done with her.

“They can tell me. They can call the helpline.

“I need her. I need her back to rest in peace. Margaret lived with me in Iraq for 30 years. She dedicated her life to serving the Iraqi people. Please now, please return her to me.”

Care International released a statement which said they were ``shocked'' to hear of Mrs Hassan's death and that the whole organisation was in mourning.

It said: “It is with profound sadness that we have learnt of the existence of a video in which it appears that our colleague Margaret Hassan has been killed.

“We are shocked and appalled that this has been the apparent outcome of her abduction.

“We want to express our deepest sympathy to Mrs Hassan’s husband Tahseen, and to her family.

“Mrs Hassan was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the poor and disadvantaged in Iraq, particularly the children. The whole of Care is in mourning.

“Through her courage, tenacity and commitment, Mrs Hassan assisted more than 17 million Iraqis living in the most difficult of circumstances. Everyone who met her was touched by her personality and compassion.

I wonder what sort of person it is who can shoot and kill a defenseless, unarmed prisoner in cold blood. What sort of person, indeed.